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The secret to great cooking is a combination of: good ingredients, chef talent, and great kitchen gadgets.  Among your kitchen gadgets, knives are of utmost importance. Good knives are a staple to any gourmet cook’s kitchen and all knives need to be sharp so it stands to reason that someone who wants to slice, dice, chop, filet, and julienne effortlessly should have high-quality and sharp knives in their kitchen.  To keep knives doing their job, knife sharpeners are definitely a staple item in the kitchen. How many times have you been frustrated, while cooking, because a knife that’s supposed to be tough enough to cut through steel can barely cut through butter?

How do you Sharpen Your Knives?

When it comes to options for your kitchen’s knife sharpener, you can go with several. You may choose a rod, a stone, or an electric knife sharpener. Electric knife sharpeners are increasing in popularity due to the safety, speed, and ease of use. When you consider the cost of replacing high quality knives every few years investing in a knife sharpener can be very good value.

Benefits of Electric Knife Sharpeners

An electric knife sharpener is precise and it’s also safe. Believe it or not, far too often, a blunt knife is what causes kitchen accident versus a razor sharp knife. It can often be thought that sharp knives are dangerous but blunt knives play more of a risk as they can slip off the food your chopping. Sharp knives cut down food prep time and result in more uniformly chopped pieces as well as a more attractive presentation. And, by being faster and easier to use, you’ll spend less time on food prep and more time enjoying the fruits of your labour. As well holding less risk of injuries electric sharpeners are easier to use and reduce the risk of damaging the blades compared to manual methods.

How to use an Electric Knife Sharpener

Your electric knife sharpener will have directions that come with it for operating it as well as for maintenance of the machine. As there are fast movings parts you should take the time to note any safety instructions. Like a good set of chef’s knives your knives are tools that should last a lifetime; most sharpeners will come with detailed knife care instructions.

Using an electric knife sharpener is a very fast and efficient way to care for your blades. Some take just ten to twenty seconds to completely sharpen your knife. The most basic knife sharpeners will only sharpen straight edge knives but some have options for serrated knives and even scissors. Some models have more than one slot for various knives as well as magnetic guides to make the job easier.

Some who don’t sharpen their knives often enough spend too much time on food prep. Following a sharpen a good quality knife will perform as good as new again. You will find that with the right knife sharpener your knives will not only last for years longer but that you will enjoy using them each day and improve your kitchen skills.

Article by Total Knife Care – stockists and distributors of Nirey Knife Sharpeners and I.O Shen Chef Knife Products.

If you’re looking for the perfect chef knife, the web can provide a lot of information to help you. Beyond flashing advertisement banners saying “buy chefs knives here”, you can also use the web to: compare chef knife brands, read reviews and testimonials from other chefs, and you can either purchase knives online or decide where you can purchase them locally.

Types of Chef Knives

There are many types and brands of professional-quality kitchen knives. Most chefs have, at minimum, three chefs knives to begin with. They often start with: a paring knife, a twenty centimeter (8”) chef knife, and a 25 centimeter (10”) chef knife.  Other knives might include: a Santokou knife, a bread knife, boning knife, and a cleaver. There are more than a dozen options but many of today’s options are designed to be multi-purpose so your set might not need to hold over a dozen different shapes.

Some chefs prefer French blade designs, which tend to be straight and triangular and others prefer the German chef knife style which is curved and allows for rocking whilst chopping. A chef’s preference is often dictated by what they trained with in culinary school.

Compare Chef Knife Brands

If you want to know which knives to buy, searching online for a chef knife range is a good idea. If you know of several brand names, you can search for information on specific brands. Find out about pricing, about guarantees and warranties, and find out how others describe their experiences with the utensils as well. Doing a Google search for ‘chef knives’ or ‘chef knife brands’ should help get you started if you don’t know where to start.  Once you’ve chosen a few brands, you can begin to make a comparison.  Some of the variables you may consider include:

• Pricing. There is no set price range for chefs knives, you can get something for well under 0 but at the top end the sky is the limit. Budget is certainly a concern for some chefs, especially if you’re just starting out. The quality and perfomance from brand of chefs knives can vary massively.
• What you want in your set. Are you looking to buy a small or large set of knives? Think about whether you need a full set of knives or just a couple of key knives.
• Do you need a storage and carrying case? You may pay a bit more for a professional case for your knives but it’s important to realise that having proper storage is part of caring for your knives so that they will last.

Read Reviews

One of the great things about using the web for information is the ability to use it to find out what other people think about something. You’ll find a number of websites dedicated to product reviews. Reading user reviews of products can help you find high-quality chefs’ knives that are in your budget.

Price Shop

The web allows you to shop around for pricing and deals on knives. Quite often you’ll find online retailers with coupon codes, free shipping, and other incentives that can make shopping online easy for you.  You’ll also find offline retailers that list their products and pricing online and this can help you find the product you’re looking for, read up on the specifications, and obtain ballpark pricing so that you can adequately prepare for your purchase.

Helpful Tips

Here are some helpful tips for purchasing chefs’ knives:

• Consider buying in a set rather than individually, if your budget allows. This will often work out in your favour as well as include a storage case for your knives.
• Carefully read the use and care directions. Consider a good knife as an investment as they should be built to last a lifetime with the right care. All knives will need sharpening so have a look at knife sharpening machines.
• Price obviously gives some indication of quality but the most expensive ones won’t always be the best for your needs. Do your homework to find the best recommended set you can afford.
• Look for chefs knives that have a solid guarantee.
• Purchase chef’s knife kits that have a return policy. Very often, you won’t know if you’ve found the perfect knife until you begin using it. A quality knife should be very well balanced between the blade and handle as well as being comfortable to hold and control the knife.